The rock band Killer Barbies is on tour across Spain when their van breaks down. They are invited by a dark stranger into a dark castle with a dark secret: the countess reached the age of Methusalem by drinking blood of young people. Such as... yes, rock band members. "Killer Barbys" suffers from the problems you could easily predict for a movie that is basically a mere promotion support for a band: poor acting (Aldo Sanbrell is the only exception),low budget, same old story. But it is clearly better than its sequel "Killer Barbies vs Dracula" in the whole atmosphere. The foggy castle is full of strange props like dolls without eyes, clocks, bones, barred windows... spooky! So, if you don't mind the silliness, gore and nudity, it's a "good bad flick". I dare say it even was the beginning of Jess Franco's return in the 90s when he seemed to fade away into oblivion.

This is not a completely horrible movie but it still is one that is about nothing really and all of its events lead to nowhere, making this one pointless and extremely forgettable movie to watch.

I really think that Jesus Franco is one of the worst directors of all time. But fair is fair, this movie is not half as bad as most of the other stuff he has done over the decades. Oneliners like 'worst movie ever!', 'completely unwatchable' or 'uttertrash' really don't apply to this movie.

But obviously this movie is not a great one either. It's not just a problem that the movie it's story is about nothing but it's more so a problem that the the storytelling is lacking focus. There is not really one clear main character and everything seems to happen at random. So the one moment we are having a killing, the other a sex scene and then there is a midget popping up as well every now and then. Why? Just because they could! It's not like any of it is really serving a purpose for its story. Focus Jesus Franco, focus!

Like you could expect from a trashy Jesus Franco movie, there is plenty of nudity in it, as well as sex sequences. Problem I always have with these moments in basically every Jesus Franco movie is that they serve absolutely no purpose and all and it always makes me think that they are only put in the movie to please Jesus Franco himself and to live his own fantasies. Even now, while he is in his 80's, he's still doing this sort of stuff.

The gimmick of this movie is that it stars a Spanish punk rock band in it, called "Killer Barbies" who are basically playing themselves but they were forced to change the title for this movie for the obvious reason. Don't really know the reasons for the band members to appear in this particular movie, since it doesn't seem like the most logical thing to boost your career with, especially not when Jesus Franco is at the helm of it all. But apparently they all had a good time, since they actually made a sequel to this movie, 6 years later, called "Killer Barbys vs. Dracula".

But besides this gimmick, it's a real run of the mill movie from Jesus Franco, that got made in 1996 but actually feels like the sort of stuff he used to make in the '70's and '80's already. Even seems to me they are still using the same sound effects as well, as well as all of the same gore effects and tricks. And they still believe they can shoot night sequences during the day time and think they can get away with it. This is seriously often one of the most distracting things about any low-budget horror production.

Perhaps not as bad as its current reputation and also far from the worst thing Jesus Franco has ever done but it clearly isn't a very good movie either.

4/10

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While the movie is called Killer Barbys, it features the Spanish punk rock band The Killer Barbies, who are fronted by Silvia Superstar. They've used the alternate spelling to avoid legal action from Mattel, but at other times use the "ie" spelling.

Released along with their first album Dressed to Kiss, this movie finds the band on the road when their van breaks down. Arkan (Aldo Sambrell, who was in everything from Leone's Italian Westerns to Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold, Silver Saddle and Operation Condor: Armor of God 2) welcomes them to the castle of Countess Von Fledermaus (Mariangela Giordano, Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror),who is really the artist Olga Luchan, who has remained alive for decades.

Billy and Sharon elect to stay in the van - continually aardvarking throughout the movies - while Flavia, Rafa and Mario all discover the secret of the Countess. Yes, she's remained young on a diet of semen and blood.

There are only two songs by the band on the soundtrack and you will know them both well by the time the movie is done. You'll also be amazed that Franco had made way more than a hundred movies before this, but so much of what I love is that you never really know what kind of movie the director would bring you.

Basically, imagine if Scooby-Doo had every character having sex with one another, but pervy sex because Jess Franco wouldn't have it any other way. What a magical lunatic. The band would also work with Mr. Franco again to make 2002's Killer Barbys vs. Dracula.